Conveyer apparatus



All@ 9, 1938 M. DYKs'mA CONVEYER APPARATUS 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Aug. 13, 1935 INVENTOR MAR/Nw Y/(STRA ATTORNEY Aug. 9',` 1938. M. DYKSTRA coNvEYER APPARATU File Aug. 1s, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 of 76m ATTORNEY INVENTOR 4 NAR/N05 wfs/M m m A V UNITED STATI-.3s rarslvr orgies by mesne assignments,` to Electric Furnace- Man, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of' This invention rela New York Application August` 13, 1935,. Serial. No.. 35,914

i2V claims. (C1. 19a-37) tes to` conveyer apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for supplying solid materials, such as fuel, to a receiver or other receptacle, for

example, in an apparatus for feeding coal to an automatic underfeed burner.

One object of my invention is tol regulate the amount of material conveyed to the receptacle and to keep the height of such material in the receptacle constant.

A feature of my invention is toautomatically supply solid material to a receiver as it is needed.

Another object of my invention is to provide apparatus for accomplishing these results which may be adapted to existing equipment and which may be adjustably mounted, therewith;

My invention finds' special utility in connection with apparatus for feeding fuel tofurnaces and the4 preferred embodiment will. be described as it is applied to existing equipment in coal stokers,

for example, such as that described in the Wightman Patent Re. 17,925

and the I-Iall, et. al. Patent No. 2,077,882. There are various types of stokers now in use which take coal from` a hopper of some sort and feed. it into a furnace. These hoppers are ordinarily lled by h conveyers have been u conveyers simply sup and, although mechanical sed for this purpose. Such ply the coal in a steady stream, independent of the feed of the Stoker. Due to the' irregularity in the feed of coal tothe burners, the variation the usual adjustment in rate of feed because of made in the feeding mechanism to accommodate variations in temperature, or for other reasons, such constant feed of fuel to the ho unless a very large ho means provided for pper is unsatisfactory and pper is used or some other accommodating excessive pared with the hopp ers previously used. The

advantages of a device which accon'iplishesl this result in a simple manner are self-evident.

In the embodiment in the drawings:

of my invention illustrated Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my regulating feeding device parts of a stoker unit.

associated with the other Figure 2 is a top View of my regulating device, showing some of the parts in section on line `2---2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertica 3--3 of Figure 4, and

l sectional view on the line Vdesired position for any particular installation.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 4 4 of Figure 3.

My feeding and regulating mechanism I Il, as shown in Figure 1-, is mounted upon a receiver II in place of the usual coal hopper of a stoker such, for example, as those described in the above mentioned patents. In the illustration shown in Figure 1, the receiver I I discharges by way of the inclined chute Ila into a chamber at one end of the conveying tube I2. A screw conveyer on the shaft I2a in this tube transmits this fuel to one or more burners in a furnace (not shown). Ashes from the furnace may be carried by a. screw conveyer in the tube I3 to a point outside the furnace where the elevator conveyer I3a picks up said ashes and deposits Ythem in any suitable bucket or other receptacle (not shown).

A forced draft of air may be supplied to the furnace through a suitable conduit by the blower I4 geared directly to motor I5. Power for the other units may be supplied by motor I5 through the reduction gearing I6. The screw conveyers and the elevator conveyer E30., may be continuously operated but are preferably intermittently driven from the reduction gearing in the manner described in the above mentioned application. My improved feeding mechanism may be driven independently but is preferably driven from the reduction gearing IG by sprockets Il, I8' and chain I9 or some other suitable driving means.

My apparatus is adapted to convey the coal or fuel from a bin or other source to the receiver Il and is made up of a shell 20 fxedly mounted on said receiver having a top portion 2I` provided with a lid 2 Ia, which is rotatably mounted on the shell 2|] within the collar 22. The collar 22 may Vbe fastened to the lower shell 2u as by bolts or rivets 23, or other suitable means, and carries a set screw 24 to clamp the top portion in the Acoal conveying tube 25 is mounted in an opening 26 in one side of said top 2I and is pivotally mounted thereon by suitable means, such as the pins 2l and 28, so that it can be raised or lowered. In the device shown it may be raised or lowered approximately 35 above or below the horizontal. A suitable helicoid member 29 is rotatably mounted in said tube to move the coal and is driven by shaft 3b through a universal joint 3l, which is centered with the pivot points 2l and 28 so that the tube and helicoid may be raised or lowered as a unit.

Shaft 30 is mounted on the opposite side of said shell 2l in bearing members 32 and 33 which are bolted to the side wall of the shell. This shaft is retained in said bearing members by a collar 34 and set screw 34a, a thrust bearing being provided at its outer end as shown at 34h. This end. of the shaft 30 projects lout some distance and has a squared end 35 so that a crank may be fitted to it and turned by hand to ll or empty the conveying tube.

In normal operation the power to turn this shaft is supplied through the shaft 36 (Fig. 3) mounted in bearing members 31 and 38 which are bolted or otherwise fastened to the lower shell 20. Sprocket wheel I8 is carried on this shaft and is keyed to collar 39 outside the shell, which collar is, in turn, fixed to the shaft 36 by a sheer pin 40. This shear pin may, of course, be omitted and the sprocket wheel may be keyed directly to the shaft, but it is desirable as a safety device in the event that the conveyer mechanism becomes clogged or excessive pressure is applied to it.

The crank arm 4l is fixed to the inner end of shaft 36 as by pin 42 and at its outer end carries a pin having a ball 43 at the outer end thereof. A link rod 44, is adjustably connected to the crank arm by the screw threads 46, joining it to the socket 45, whichcooperates with the ball 43 of the crank arm to form a ball and socket connection. A ball 41 is fixed to the uper end of said link rod 44 and a ring 48, of smaller diameter than the ball 41, at the end of a projection 49a of the rocker 49, surrounds said rod 44. The link rod 44 is preferably offset or bent as illustrated for a purpose to be described below. Ball 41 may also be screwed on to link 44 so that the effective length thereof may be adjusted.

Projection 49a is preferably integral with the hub portion 5D of the rocker 49 which is rotatably mounted. on shaft 30 just inside the bearing member 33. Pawl 5I, held down by spring 52, slides in a slot in said hub portion and engages the ratchet 53 which may be keyed or fastened by set screw 54 to the shaft 30. Opposite arm 49a and preferably also integral with the hub 50 is another arm 55, which is pivotally connected at its free end to the rod 56. A weight 51 is carried at the lower end of said rod and is adapted to strike the coal 58 as the level of the coal rises in the shell 20.

In mounting my device on the stoker mechanism illustrated, the stationary shell is rst bolted in place on the receiver Il. Shell 2| may then be placed in the collar 22 and rotated until the coal conveying tube is towards the bin or coal supply. Rotation of the shell 2| is facilitated by the fact that the link 44 has an offset portion, above mentioned, which may be of any configuration to obtain the desired rotation. The adjustable length of the link 44 by means of screw threads 46 and the screw threads on ball 41 also aids in securing the desired amount of rotation.

The conveyer tube is next adjusted at the proper angle with the horizontal to supply coal and preferably sealed in place to prevent escape of coal dust or the like. A crank may then be applied to the head on the shaft 3i! to fill the tube 25 and receiver II with coal. The motor I5 is finally started and coal is conveyed to the burner by the conveyer in the tube I2. This operation may be continuous or intermittent. At the end of each downward stroke of the link 44 the weight 51 on the other side of the rocker arm pulls the rocker arm back into operative driving position following the upward stroke of link 44. When the coal in the shell 20 is below the lowest level of the weight 51, therotation of the crank arm 4| will reciprocate the rocker 49 throughout its full stroke and the pawl 5l will actuate the ratchet 53 throughout its full stroke which may, for example, be the distance of 2 to 4 teeth. This actuation of the ratchet 53 will cause the fuel to be fed into the shell 20 from the bin, preferably at a rate slightly above the maximum rate of feed of fuel through the conveyer leading to the burner. The length of this stroke may be varied to any desired rate of feed by varying the length of the crank arm 4l.

As the coal rises in the shell 2i) the weight 51 will strike the coal near the end of its stroke and arrest the rocker arm 49, the ball 41 continuing its full reciprocation. On the next downward stroke, ball 41 on link 44 contacts the rocker arm for only a portion of the stroke, so that the rocker' 49 will be rotated through only a portion of its; normal rotation.

If the coal level in the receiver rises still higher gauge rod 56 prevents the rocker arm from being returned at all so that the pawl does not even pick up one tooth for the next stroke. In such a case the supply of coal to the receiver is automatically stopped until the coal level is again lowered by feeding more fuel to the furnace through the tube I2. As this occurs, the feeding of coal to the receiver is automatically started again. It will be a simple matter, of course, to adjust the stroke of crank arm 4| so that the conveyer working at its maximum speed may always be able to provide the hopper with a plentiful supply of coal.

It is apparent that my invention is not limited to use with coal stokers although it is especially useful in this connection. My apparatus may be adapted to handle any solid fuel or other materials where similar problems are encountered.

It is readily apparent that some sort of spring device may be used to return the rocker arm to its operative position instead of the weight 51. In such a case the weight might be replaced by a simple disc or cup.

This apparatus can be very quickly mounted on existing equipment and its installation requires very few directions and does not have to be made by a skilled person. By use of this device the necessity of shoveling coal into a stoker hopper is overcome and it is simply necessary to provide an adequate supply of coal in the bin.

Various well known mechanisms may be used to rotate the shaft 30 instead of the crank arm shown in the embodiment of my invention which is illustrated, as long as rotation of this shaft .is effected in accordance with the amount of coal in the receiver Il.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but recognize that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for conveying fuel to a burner comprising a conveyer adapted to convey fuel from a receiver to said burner, a second conveyer adapted to convey fuel to said receiver, said second conveyer being driven by a shaft, a ratchet fixed to said shaft, a rocker arm rotatably mounted on said shaft and carrying a pawl adapted to engage said ratchet, and means to rock said rocker arm in accordance with the height of fuel in said receiver, said second conveyer being adjustable with respect to said first conveyer about a vertical axis.

2. Apparatus for conveying fuel to a burner comprising a conveyer adapted to convey fuel from a receiver to said burner, a second conveyer adapted to convey fuel to said receiver, said second conveyer being driven by a shaft, a ratchet xed to said shaft, a rocker arm rotatably mounted on said shaft and carrying a pawl adapted to engage said ratchet, and means to rock said rocker arm in accordance with the height of fuel in said receiver, said second conveyer being adjustable with respect to said first conveyer about a vertical axis and a horizontal axis.

3. In conveying apparatus, means for conveying solid material to a receptacle from which said solid material may be Withdrawn, means including a mechanical link for operating said conveying means, and means actuated by said me. chanical link for controlling the effect of said operating means o-n said conveying means to maintain the height of solid material substantially constant in said receptacle, said controlling means being operable to stop the influx of solid material when a predetermined height of said material is reached in the receptacle.

4. In apparatus for conveying solid fuel, a receptacle having an opening for discharging fuel and another opening for supplying fuel, means to convey fuel to said second opening, and mechanical means to regulate said conveying means in acccordance with the height of material in said receptacle, said conveying means being adjustable about a horizontal axis.

5. In combination With a device for supplying fuel to a burner, a receiver for holding fuel preparatory to being fed to the burner, means for conve-ying fuel to said receiver, means including a mechanical link for driving said conveying means, and gage means actuated by said mechanical link for automatically regulating said conveyin g means in accordance With the amount of fuel in said receiver, said last mentioned means rendering the conveying means temporarily inoperative when a predetermined height of fuel is reached in said receiver.

6. In combination with a device for supplying fuel to a burner, a receiver for holding fuel preparatory to being fed to the burner, means for conveying fuel to said receiver, and means for regulating said conveying means to vary the amount of fuel conveyed to `said receiver iny accordance With varying heights of material in the receiver, said conveying means being rotatable about a substantially vertical axis With respect to said receiver.

'7. In combination with a device for supplying fuel to a burner, a receiver for holding fuel preparatory to being fed to the burner, means for conveying fuel to said receiver, and means for regulating said conveying means to vary the amount of fuel conveyed toI said receiver in accordance with varying heights of material in the receiver, said conveying means being adjustable to supply fuel from different levels with respect to said receiver.

8. In combination with a device for supplying fuel to a burner, a receiver for holding fuel preparatory to being fed toy the burner, means for conveying fuel to said receiver, and means for regulating said conveying means to vary the amount of fuel conveyed to said receiver in accordance With varying heights of material in the receiver, said conveying means being rotatable and tiltable with respect to said receiver.

9. Apparatus for conveying fuel to a burner comprising a conveyer adapted to convey fuel from a receiver to said burner, a second conveyer adapted to convey fuel to said receiver, means for driving said second conveyer including a ratchet and a pavvl, and means including reciprocating gage means controlled by the height of fuel in said receiver to regulate the effective stroke of said pawl.

10. Apparatus for conveying fuel to a burner comprising a conveyer adapted to convey fuel from a receiver to said burner, a second ccnveyer adapted to convey fuel to said receiver and means controlled by the height of fuel in said receiver to regulate the rate of feed of said second co-nveyer, inversely to said height of fuel, said means including a ratchet fixed to the shaft of said second conveyer, a pawl engaging said ratchet v and means to reciprocate said pawl in acccordance with the height of coal in said receiver.

l1. Apparatus for conveying fuel to a burner` comprising a conveyer adapted toconvey fuel from a receiver to said burner, a second conveyer adapted to convey fuel to Said receiver, said second conveyer being driven by a shaft, a ratchet fixed to said shaft, a rocker arm roitatably mounted on said shaft and carrying a pavvl adapted to engage said ratchet, and means to rock said rocker arm in accordance With the height of fuel in said receiver.

12. In combination with a device for supplying solid fuel to a burner, a receiver, a conveyer for conveying fuel to said receiver', reciprocating means for operating said conveyer, and means reciprocated by said operating means into contact With the fuel in said receiver for regulating the effective reciprocation of said operating means in accordance with the height of fuel in said receiver.

MARINUS DYKSTRA;l 

